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April '27 1926. 1,582,140

E. P. NICHOLS MACHINE FOR GRADING LEATHER STRIPS AND DIED-OUT PIECES Filed August 12. 1915 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 O I 0 o I I" /7 67 6 55 l 2 62/ Z0 s ii I. Ii A 27 Z2 v -i E 2 a I 5 {Y i)? I lzx'j fi 23067037": flzrwr 2125070025,

' A ril 27 1926. 1,582,140

E. P. NICHOLS MACHINETOR GRADING LEATHER STRIPS ANDv DIED-OUT PIECES Filed August 12, 1915 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 mun A ril 27 1926. 582,140

E. P. NICHOLS HER STRIPS AND DIED-OUT PIECES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 MACHINE FOR GRADING LEA'H Filed- August 12, 1915 Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT'OFF TION OF MAINE.

1,582,140 ICE.

mANcHEsrER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR ro rA'cENE MANUFACTURING coMPANY, or MANCHESTER, NEw HAMPSHIRE, A CORPGRAK MACHINE FOR G RAIDING'LEATHER STRIPS AND DIED-OUT PIECES.

Application fl'led August 12, 1915. Serial No. 45,198.

To all whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, ELMER P. NICHOLS,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of Manchester, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Grading Leather Strips and Died-Out Pieces, of which the following description, in connec tion with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

y invention relates to the same general class of machines as those previously patented by me beginning with the Reissue Patent 12,288 of November 22, 1904, my present machine having .the advantage over the others of being exceedingly compact and capable of handling died-out pieces with great rapidity, the latter being, in fact, the

20 principal object in view. A further object is to provide a machine which simply grades without evening or marking, relying on the operator'to distribute the. successive pieces of stock in accordance with the grade automatically determined by the machine and visually indicated to the operator.

In general, my machine operates on the same principle and utilizes largely the same mechanisms as in my previous machines, being, however, so constructed as to'amplify the grade measurements so as to make the grade distinctions operator. For this reason also the" machine is'exceedingly accurate and delicate in its 35 discriminations.

In the drawings in which I have gillustrated a preferred embodiment ofmy machine, Fig. 1 shows the same in side elevation partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 3 shows the same in rear ele-' vation; Fig. 4 is a detail in elevation of one end of the lower feeler roll and adjacent bar. Fig. 5 is a plan view of certain parts shown in elevation in 1. A

passed between two workreceiving members, shown as feeler rolls as before, the upper roll 1, however, being divided into two parts. 1, 1", made adjustable on the shaft (by a sliding fit and set-screw, D or otherwise) toward and from each other so as to bear more directly, firmly and aceurately'on the ed es of the stock. By this arrangement I find I can-get better results than by having a single roll, eventhough the The work is readily discernible to the ends 24 of arms 25 latter is cut out 1s makes it a great many variety of widths of stock. This is'unyielding, being mounted in V ings. The underroll 2 is slightly hollowed out at its middle at 3 and is supported at its ends in the free forward ends of supportng arms 4, mounted at their rear ends on transverse pivots 5 and longitudinal pivots 6 for providing a universal joint to accommodate the necessary up and down independ ent feeling movements of the opposite ends of the roll 2 in response to the unevennesses of the leather piece. Spanning from one of these arms4 to the other across the machine is a crossbar 7 held strongly upward by two levers 8, 9, pivoted at 10 and held downward at their rear ends by a spring 11, adjustable at 12 and connected to the two levers 8 and 9 by a bar 13 (see Fig. 3). Each lever has a ball-bearing consisting of a ball 14 between its free end and the crossbar 7 said ball occupying grooves one extending 10ngitudinally of the crossbar for its upper seat and one extending longitudinally of the lever for its lower seat (see Figs. 1 and 5). The arms 4 respectively embrace the adjacent ends ofthe roll 2 and each arm is provided at its forward end with an ear or socket-like projection 15 (Figs. land 4) havinga concave seat on its under side facing downward in which loosely fits the rounded head or upper end 16 of a transmission rod 17 adjustably secured at 18 in the adjacent end or casting 19 of a. crossbar 20 (see Figs. 1 and 3). The crossbar is relatively thi'nand is freely pivoted at its opposite ends at 21 in the respective end castings 19 so as to permit either end to move vertically independent-1y of the other end. in response to the aforesaid independent feeling movements of the ends of the roll 3. To limit the upward movement-of-the rods 17, nuts 22 are provided, having threaded engagement with said rods to engage the notched projections 23 on the adjacent portions of the frame of the machine. Resting on the crossbar 20 "of the transmission mechanism are the notched rear extending rearwardly from the rockshaft 26 whose farther end, as viewed in Fig. 1, see also Fig. 2, carries a relatively long arm 27 engaging stop nuts 28 of'a rod 29 (see also Fig. 3) extending downwardly from the rear end 30 of a toothed sector 31, pivoted at 32 to a stationary part of the machine. The rod 29 is pivoted at 33 to said sector and carries a spring 34 whose tension is adjustable by a nut 35, said spring bearing at 36 against the upper side ofthe rear end of the arm 27. The sector 31 engages an intermediate gear 37 (see Fig. 1), which in turn engages the teeth of a gear 38 on whose shaft 39 is fast a pointer or indicator 40 for traversing an arc-shaped index or scale 41 of the registering mechanism or indicator divided into irons and half irons (and if desired, into quarter irons). Also on the shaft 39 are two locking ratchet wheels 42, 43, engaged respectively by pawls 44, 45, pivotally mounted at 46, the former normally held under upward tendency by a spring 47 and the latter under rearward tendency by the weight of a crossbar or gate 48 in front of the rolls 1, 2, pivoted at its opposite ends at 49 in the frame of the machine and connected by a crank lever or arm 50 and link 51 with the upper end of the pawl 45. The pawl 44 has its tail end 52 engaged by a slide pin 53 operated by the upstanding end '54 of an arm on a rockshaft 55 arranged to be rocked by a rearwardly extending arm 56 provided with an adjustable foot or inner trip 57 normally in the path of the stock as the latter is fed along. The spring 34 permits the freedom of movement of the roll 2 and the parts actuated thereby when the pointer shaft 39 is locked, and consequently when the sector 31 and gears 37 and 38 are held against turning. Thus the feeler mechanism operates independently of, but in cooperation with, the means of controlling the movement of the pointer in either direction, the latter being through the pawls and ratchets just mentioned (which are operated by the feeding of the stock or leather piece). In order to make it certain that thin stock will engage and operate this foot Lhave provided a table 58 having a central groove 59, Fig. 2, for receiving the lower end of this foot so that as a piece of stock moves along said table it cannot possibly pass under the foot without raising the foot an appreciable distance and thereby rocking the connecting parts v56. 54, 53, and 52 sufficiently to permit the pawl 44 to-engage the wheel 42. This results in looking the grade indicating mechanism so that it cannot thereafter measure or indicate a thicker spot in the leather, but can only move toward the left Fig. 1 in the direction of thinner measurements and thinn'er spots in the leather being graded. Until the forward end of the piece of stock has reached and lifted the foot 57 the grading mechanism does not usefully preserve any of the. grade measurements, but after the end of the piece of stock has reached the foot 57 and raised it, all that portion of the stock which passes thereafter between the feeler mechanism is graded with reference to the thinnest portion felt of and the indicator (which is the particular species of grading means that I have herein selected for illustrating and explaining my invention) is retained so as to usefully perpetuate or utilize said grade detection. This provision of the adjustable foot 57 is for the purpose of enabling the machine to handle soles, for instance, whose heel ends it is desired not to grade, but only the forepart of the sole. Hence by setting the foot 57 to the right, Fig. 1 a distance corresponding to the length of the heel portion of the sole, said heel portion is thereby not graded, while all the rest of the sole is graded. The cross bar or gate 48 is provided at its middle portion with a rigid or outer trip 60 extending obliquely downward so as to be readily raised by the engagement therewith of a sole or piece of stock pressed forward by the hands of the operator to the feeler members 1, 2; and this raising of said outer trip 60 withdraws the locking pawl 45, which 'has theretofore restrained the pointer from movement toward thinness-measuring position. The outer trip 60 normally projects into the path of a leather piece approaching the filler members and before said piece can be engaged by said members, it must lift this trip, which is thereafter held by said piece during the period of control by the feeling or detecting mechanism so as to render the locking pawl 45inoperat'1ve. But as soon as the leather piece passes from beneath the trip or Wall 60, at the end of the detecting and indicating operation, said trip 60 and its crossbar or gate 48 fall, and thereby automatically lock the pointer 40 against movement thereafter in either direction. The pointer remains thus locked to indicate the thinnest portion of said piece detected by the movement of the yielding pressure member 2 toward the gauge member 1, until the leather piece is removed from beneatl the inner trip or foot 57 which has meanwhile been holding the pawl 44 against the locking wheel 42 for preventing opposite movement of the pointer from the last position to which it was moved by the registering movement of the pressure member 2. The fingers or arms 25 are maintained normally in engagement with the bar 20 and preferably under slight tension by a spring 61. Power is communicated from a pulley 62, pinion 63 and gear 64 to the upper roll 1 and by a sprocket wheel 65 (on the shaft 66 of said pulley), sprocket chain 67 and sprocket wheel 68 to the roll 2 for feeding the leather pieces. The stock is fed by the operator between work guides 69, 70, pivoted at 71, 72 and held by springs 73, to

engag: steps 74,- said guides being mounted on bloc 7 5 movabletoward and from each other on a table 76 by a right-and-left screw 77 havmg a hand wheel 78.

In operation, a piece of stock is shoved along the table 76 between the guides 69 and 70 against the barrier 60 of the gate 48, which latter instantly yields to the forward pressure of the stock, permitting said stock to enter between the feeler rolls 1, 2. the parts 1, 1 of the latter having first been set toward each other orfrom each other in accordance with the average width of stock being fed so as to insure the right pressure and edge engagement and hence delicacy of feeler measurement. When the leather piece is pushed towards the bite of the rolls, it elevates trip and whereupon the pointer is unlocked from its position of previous .indication and returns to normal or towards zero. Vith the removal previously or then or later of the previously gaged piece from under trip 57 the latter falls and thus disengages pawl 44; whereupon the pointer is freed to move in either direction, and it will indicate for the time being the thickness of the portion of the leather piece momentarily between the rolls and will move in either direction from time to time as the thickness changes. It will be noted that this movement of the pointer undei; the action of the feeler mechanism is positively and directly controlled by the up and downmo'vement of the lower roll 2; and this movement would cause a vi bration of the pointer corresponding (but exaggerated) to the varying thickness of the stock being felt of, were it not for the automatic controlling mechanism, which is operated by the stock to control the pointer which is operated by the teeler mechanism. As soon as the forward end of the stock has engaged and lifted the foot 57 the feeler ineasuren'ientsor determinations of the detecting mechanisn'i become effective. \Vhen the advancing end of the piece of stock elevates the foot or trip 57 (the preceding piece l'iaving meanwhile been removed), pawl 44 becomes effective to prevent movement of pointer any further away from the zero end of the dial than it happened to be when this pawl thus became active,

I though the pointer is still free to move towards zero, or so as to indicate a thinner place in the leather piece,'it' a thinner place should later come between the rolls. So that, after pawl 44 becomes effective. the pointer will indicate the mini-mum thickness of that portion of the .leather piece that thereafter passes between the rolls 1 and 2. The yielding ro l 2 yields downwardly at either end or both ends with relation to the unyielding roll or gage member accord- .mg to the varying thicknesses of the stock.

This roll or pressure member 53,

the delicate supporting nae A v I moved over to the left, Fig. disengages pawl 45,

movement just mentioned pawls are both .in engagement the various thin spots without distortion. As

a thin spot is reached the roll 2 yields or is moved upwardly by'its spring 11 thereby, through the connections 15, -16, .c0rrespondtransmission rod ingly raising the adjacent 17, which, in turn, lifts the adjacent fiiigen 24 to the same extent and rocks the rocksh aft 26 which amplifies the movement through the arm 27, rod 29 and gearing 30, 31,37 and 38 so that the indicator finger or arm 40 is 1, the slight extent required by the thin spot gauged duri ng the period of control of the stock by the feeler mechanism. As this movement takes place the detent or dog 44 clicks into the notch to which the ratchet Wheel 42 has been turned by the amplified grade-indicating and thereby restrains the pointer or finger 40 against forward movement over to the right, Fig. 1. This engagement of the detent 4.4-under the influence of its spring 47 is permitted by the fact that the stock is then holding the foot 5? sufiiciently raised to permit the member 56, 54 to release the pressure of pin 53 on the arm 52 of said detent (which would otherwise prevent said detent from acting). The visual indicating mechanism including both the setting mechanism and the restraining means, is operated or controlled by the leather piece, as distinguished from being power-operated. The direction of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 42 permits the detent 44 to click over said teeth for successive thinner measurements, but prevents any opposite movement, so that only the thinnest spot felt of is ultimately indicated by the indicator Thus the pawl when in engagement with the ratchet wheel 43 prevents the rotation of the pointer to the left, Fig. l, and the pawl 44 when in engagement with the ratchet wheel 42 prevents the movement of the oointer to the right. \Vhen these two pointer cannot move in either direction. hen only the pawl 45 is in engagement with the ratchet. wheel 43, the pointer may be moved to the right. the pawl 45 clicking over the ratchet 43. When the pawl 44 is in engagement, and the pawl 45 is notin engagement. the pointer may beturned to the left, as in that case the pawl 44 clicks over the ratchet 42. The pawl 45 is disengaged when the stock to be felt of is fed to the machine. and this pawl is automatically thrown into op eration just before the stock has completely passed from between the rolls. On the other hand the pawl 44' is disengaged when the stock passes out from supporting relation beneath the foot 5?; and therefore these two Hill pawls are operated by the mere feeding of the stock, whatever may be its thickness, in the machine. W on the piece of leather being graded has b en practically'all felt of so that its rear end escapes from beneath the gate or forward trip 48, the latter drops and thereby, through the arm and link 51, causes the detentor dog .45 to engage the ratchet wheel 43, and as the teeth of said ratchet wheel extend oppositely from those of the wheel 42, itfollo'ws that the indicator is thereby locked against further movement in either direction at the end of the period of control ofthe. piece. This-preserves t 1e visual indication of the grade of the leather piece which has been determined by the feeler mechanism, so that the operator can observe the same amply and plainly before removing the leather piece from the machine. After the pointer has been given this position, corresponding to the thinnest spot among the plurality of spots felt of, it will remain in such position, even after the leather piece has beentaken from the machine, because pawl 45 becomes elfective before the leather piece leaves the bite of the rolls, to prevent the restoration of the pointer until another leather piece is pushed under the outer trip 60, which thereu on releases pawl 45. The time of unloc ing is thus subject tothe will of the operator. The lower roll 2 will move up to contact with the upper roll or so far as permitted by theadjustment of nuts 22 as soon as the leather piece passes from between the rolls, but the pointer may not be permitted to return to its zero position until later. As the leather piece leaves the roll or pressure member 2, the latter rises and thereby, through the connections 17 27, moves upwardly under increased compression the bearing end 'of the spring 34 and as the operator, having observed the exact grade indicated by the visual indicating mechanism, removes the leather piece from the'machine, the foot 57 thereupon falls and causes the withdrawal of the detent 44 from the ratchet wheel 42. Thereafter, when the next piece \of leather is 'fed into the machine so as to elevate outer trip and thus effect the withdrawal of detent 45, spring 34 may-instantly restore the indicator arm 40 to zero. The operator places the graded piece of leather in the box. or compartment provided for receiving all leather pieces of its grade, and then feeds the next piece of stock into the machine. One object of my invention is to make the machine so small, i. e. so short that the operator can readily withdraw the grade leather piece with his or her right hand while at the same time feeding the next leather piece into the machine with the left hand, the indicating dial 41 and indicator '40 being directly in front of the operator d spots felt of by when the latter is standing in this work removing and work feeding position. As stated at the outset, the principal object in view is to handle the pieces with great rapidity or at increased speed of output, as compared with my previous patented grading machines. In other words, for a given speed of rotation this machine handles a larger number of pieces than before. Thus, making the machine short aids this object because the operator, standing at one side, can handle both the ingoing and outgoing pieces simultaneously; enabling the gate to open before the work has left the machine or has even left the inner trip 57 is another important aid to the same object, besides being a radical departure in this art; opening the gate by the leather piece'still further conduces to speed; and choosing that species of grading means which cooperates with quick sight and so arranging it with relation to the rest of the machine that it may act relatively long or short in time, according to the will of the operator, eliminates much of the previous mechanism and most of the delay, according to the capacity or speed of the operator.

It will be understood that I have employed, so far as convenient, various details of my previous machines, the oppositely toothed ratchet wheels being similar in constructionand operation to those in my Patent No. 1,057,358 of March 25, 1913, and certain features of the indicating mechanism being similar to those shown in my Patent No. 1,130,321 of March 2, shows the main features of the feed guides and gate. My present invention embodies various other features which have already been shown and claimed in previous patents, and accordingly my present invention is limited. to the features set forth in the following claims. I wish it understood, however, that excepting as certain of the more specific claims may restrict the invention to constructional details, the invention is not to be restricted to the particular embodiments herein shown asvarious changes in construction' and arrangement of operation of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the broader claims.

My invention is further described and defined in the form of claims as follows:

1. In a machine of the kind described, mechanism for automatically determining the grade of a leather piece with reference to the thinnest spot among a plurality of continuous act, including means for visually indicating said grade to the operator, and means for automatically restoring said indicating means for the next piece, the aforesaid mechanism including means for controlling such restoring so 1915, which also constructed as to leave the time of said restoration to the independent control of the operator.

2. In a machine of the kind described, mechanism for automatically determining the grade of a leather piece with reference to the thinnest spot among a plurality of spots felt of by continuous act, including means for visually indicating said grade to the operator, and automatic means for restoring said indicating means for the next p ece, prior to the feeding in of said next 7 ed with said feeler mec piece, the aforesaid mechanism including means for controlling such automatic restoring so constructed as to leave the. time of said restoration to the independent control of the operator.

3. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism for detecting by continuous act the thinnest spot among a plurality of spots of var ing thickness in a leather piece, visual in icatin mechanism connectanism for indicating the grade detected, automatic means for locking said indicating mechanism to the thinnest spotdetected and for maintaining the same locked at the will of the operator, and including means permitting the restoration of the feeler mechanism to normal position when the leather piece has passed therefrom, and means for restoring said indicating means tonormal position separately from the restoration of the feeler mechanism.

4. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism for detecting the thinnest spot in a plurality of spots- ,of varying thickness in a leather piece, visual indicating mechanism connected with said feeler mechanism forindicating the grade detect-- ed, automatic means for locking said indicatin mechanism to the thinnest spot deteeter? and for maintaining the same locked at the will of the operator but permitting the restoration of the feeler mechanism to normal or work-receiving position when the leather piece has passed from said feeler mechanism, means for restoring said indicating means to normal or zero position, and means rendered operative during the passage of the leather releasably lock t e indicating means against such restoration.

5. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism for detecting by continuous act the thinnest spotamong a plurality of spots of varying thickness in a leather piece, a visual indicatorres onsive to said feeler mechanism for indica ing to the operator the thinnest 'spotof all the spots felt of, andautomatic operating connections between said feeler mechanism and saidvisual indicator, said connections being so constructed as to permit the automatic restoration to normal p'ositionof said indicator in iece from the machine to 1 other to co-operate with the other roll just beyond said concaved portion.

8. In a machine of thekind described,

opposite rolls,

feeier mechanism including opposite mem- 8 bers, one of which is mounted at the free ends of swinging arms having universal movement to permit either end of the memher to move independently of the other, and yielding means ber pressed toward the other member.

9. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism and a visual indicator and intervening connections arranged in compact form including a transmission means having a short lever extending vforwardly from the feeler mechanism a short distance, a long lever extending rearwardly from the front end of said short lever, and other connections from the rear end of said long lever extending back forward again to the indicator, said indicator being located relatively close to the -feeler mechanism.

10. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism, visual indicating mechanism controlled by said feeler mechanism, means work-controlled as to its period of action for locking said indicating mechanism against movement beyond the point corresponding to the thinnest spot detected by the feeler mechanism after said locking means begins to act, and work-controlled means for locking said indicating mecha? nism against movement below said thinnest spot point.

11. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism, visual indicating mechanism controlled by said feeler mechanism, means work-controlled as to its period of action for locking said indicating mechanism against movement beyond the point corresponding to the thinnest spot detected -by the feeler mechanism after said locking means begins to act, Work-controlled means for locking said indicating mechanism against movement. below said thinnest spot point, and means for restoring said indicating mechanism for subsequent indications when the last named locking means is released.

for maintaining said memtat- ' tor, comprising,

- and means to portion of said piece,

any position to which it tering the thinness measurements by a movement of the pressure member toward the gage member, pointer-restraining meansadapted to prevent the opposite movement of the pointer, said restraining means being normally inoperative, and provided with an inner trip located in the path of a piece controlled by the members so that said trip is held by the controlled piece in position to make the restraining means operative, and means to lock the pointer against movement at the end of the period of control of the piece. 1

13. A visual minimum thickness-indicain combination, a gage member, a yielding pressure-member, movable toward and from the gage'member by the variations in thickness of a piecepassing between the members, registering mechanism including a pointer movable for registering the thinness measurements by a movement of the pressure member toward the gage member, pointer-restraining means adapted to prevent the opposite movement of the pointer, said restraining means being normally inoperative, and provided wlth an inner trip located in the path of a piece controlled by the members so that said trip is held by the controlled piece'in position to make the restraining means operative,

lock the pointer against movement at the end of the period of control of the piece, and provided with anouter trip projectinginto the path of a piece approaching said members and adapted to be held by said piece before and during said period 0 control to make said locking means inoperative.

14.. A visual minimum ing machine, comprising, in combinat1on,-a gage member, a yielding pressure member movable toward and from the gage member by the variations of thickness of-a piece assing between the members, and registering mechanism including a pointer movable thickness-indicatby movement of the pressure member toward the gage member to indicate the thinnest. means for reventing the opposite movement of the pointer from may have been moved by said movement of the pressure member, and automatically-acting pointer locking means adapted to lock the pointer against movement at the end of the indicating operation, whereby said registration is prolonged and automatic pointer restoring mechanism, the time of whose operation is controlled by the release of the pointer 'the gage member to indicate the thinnest portion of said piece, means for preventing the movement of the pointer from any position to which it may have been thus moved, whereby a final registration of the thinnest portion of the piece is effected, and automatically-acting pointer locking means adapted to lock the pointer against movement at the end of the indicating operation, whereby said registration is prolonged, said locking means being normally operative and having an instrumentality movable by .a piece approaching the members torender said locking means inoperative, said instrumentality being held by the piece to preventlocking the pointer during the period of control of the iece by the members.

16. In a mac ine of the kind described, feeler mechanism including opposite work receiving and feeding members for detecting, by continuous act, the thinnest spot among a plurality of spots, felt of along the opposite edges simultaneously of a died-out piece of stock, grading means responsive to said feeler mechanism, a lock therefor, a normally closed gate extending in front of said feeler mechanism and arranged, when opened, to disengage said lock, said gate being arranged to be opened by the ingoing stock, and automatic operating connections between said feeler mechanism and said grading means arranged to actuate the latter in response to the former.

17. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism including opposite workreceiving and feeding members for detecting the-thinnest spot in the opposite edges of died-out pieces ofgstock, grading means for grading the stock in response to said feeler mechanism, a work-supporting table over which the work moves, automatic operating means for said grading means including connections between said feeler mechanism and said grading means, and a gravity foot so shaped as to be elevated by the passage of the stock thereagainst, said table having a longitudinal groove in its top-side in the path of the stock and in which said foot normally rests whereby the stock produces a greater vertical movement of the foot than the thickness of the stock when the stock elevates the foot.

18. A machine of the kind described comprising gradmdetecting mechanism for detecting the stock grade of successive blanks of to thickness, mechanism responsive to said grade detecting mechanism for utilizing the grade detection, a member adapted'to rest against the blank in advance of the grade detecting mechanism, and a according lock actuated by the member when it ceases tection, a' work supporting bed over which side in the path of the work moves, and automatic operating means for said grading. mechanism, includ- ;ng connections between said grade detecting means and said grading mechanism, anda gravity foot actuatedby the passage of the blanks, said bed having a recess in its top the blanks and in which said foot normally rests whereby there is produced a greater vertical movement of the foot than the thickness of the blank when -the blank actuates the foot. y

20. A machine of the kind described comprising feeding and stock detecting devices. grade of successive blanks.

for detecting the n of stock according to their thickness, gradz'ng mechanism to utilize said detection, connections for automatically adjusting said.

grading mechanism in accordance with the detection of said detectm devices, and means, for locking said gra mg mechanism as adjusted, said last named means com ris-' ing a member normally in the path 0 the stock entering the machine. but adapted to be moved out of said path by said stock-to unlock the grading means, the aforesaid mechanisms being so constructed and arranged as to emit the detecting devices to receive and filed in a succeeding blank before the preceding blank has left the machine. I

21. A machine of the kind" described having in combination, operating mechanism including a movable member, an indicator, means responsive to the movement of the member for setting the indicator, means for holdin the indicator so set, and means adopte to be operated bythe presentation to the machine of a succeeding blank for releasing the indicator. c

22. A machinepf the kind described having in combination, operating mechanism including a movable member, an indicator, means responsive to a selected dimension member produced by one blank for setting the indicator, means for holding the indi cator so set, and means adapted to be op eratcd only by a succeeding blank when presented to the machine for releasing the indicator.

23. A machine for grading a blank as to a selected dimension and for indicating the extent of the dimension, having in combination, a pair of separable members between Which the blank is fed, an indicator,

means responsive to the separation of themembers forsetting the indicator, means for holding the indicator set, and means responsive to the presentation ofa succeeding blank to the separable members for releasing the indicator.

24. A machine for grading a blank as to and for indicating the extent of the dimension,.having, in combination, a pair of separable members be tween which the blank is fed, an indicator, to the separation of. the members for setting the indicator, means for holding the indicator set, and means actuated by a succeeding blank when presented to the separable members to release the indicator.

25. In a machine of the 'kinddescribed, feeler mechanism for detecting the thin spots in a leather mechanism controlled by saidfeelcr mechanism, -a locking device normally holding the grading mechanism as previously set, and a connection from said locking device extending in advance of the feeler mechanism and normally in the path of the leather piece and operable by said leather piece to unlock said locking device before the feeler mechanismis actuated by such leather piece.

2 26. In a machine of the kind described, a positively operated feeder for a piece to be graded, a piece-controlled feeler in co-' to said feelr, feeler opregistering the thinnest felt of, normally active said-registering devices operating relation erated devices for spot in the piece locking means for '-including a member displaceabile by the piece as presented to-the machine to release said locking means.

27. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism for detecting the thin s -mts in a leather piece to .be graded, gra ing mechanism controlled by said feeler mechanism, mechanism for setting the grading mechanism to the thinnest spot detected, and means normally maintaininggthe grading mechanism set and controllable exclusively by the leather piece entering the machine so as to be rendered and maintained inactive until just before such leather piece leaves the feeler mechanism.

281 A machine of the kind described comthe movement of the prising means for detecting the made of piece to be-graded,. grading stock for the thinnest spot felt of, and grading means governed by the detecting means, combined with mechanism for setting and locking said grading means, said setting and locking mechanism being constructed and arranged to admit a piece of stock to the detecting means before the preceding piece of stock has left the machine.

29. A machine of the kind described comprising means for detecting the grade of stock for the thinnest spot felt of, and grading means governed by the detecting means, combined with mechanism for setting and locking said grading means inchiding a member extending in front of the detecting means, said setting and. locking mechanism being constructed and arranged to permit the entrance of a piece of stock to the detecting means While the preceding piece is still in the machine.

In testimony whereof, I havesigned my name to this specification.

ELMER P. NICHOLS. 

